Sunshine Express
James Barret
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Trained at the University of Windsor James has been a professional actor in theatre, film and television for over 20 years. James has co-written, co-produced and starred in ‘MINE’ and ‘Jackpot!’ which toured across Canada to great acclaim. Other theatre credits include; ‘Chains of Justice’(The Stage Co.), ‘Biloxi Blues’(PersephoneTheatre), ‘Written, Directed, Starring’ (Toronto Fringe), ‘Bordertown Café’ and ‘Peggy Grace’ (Kawartha SummerTheatre) and ‘Peggy and Grace’ again (The Red BarnTheatre.) With Globus James has performed in ‘Blithe Spirit’, ‘The Foursome’, ‘Home to Roost’, ‘Here on the Flight Path’, ‘The MotorTrade’, ‘Art’, ‘It HadTo BeYou’, ‘Storm Warning’, ‘I Ought to be in Pictures’, ‘Having Relations’, ‘Nobody’s Perfect’, ‘Sunshine Express’, ‘The Love List’, ‘The Secret Lives of Henry & Alice’, ‘Looking’, ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, ‘Sexy Laundry’, ‘Making a Move’, ‘NoTell Motel’, ‘Buying the Moose’ ‘Funny Farmers’, ‘Real Estate’ and ‘Raising the Barn’ He has directed ‘DoYouTakeThis Man?’, ‘Fanny Hill’, ‘April in Paris’, ‘Billy Bishop Goes to War’, ‘B4 & After’, ‘Trying’, ‘Soccer Moms’, ‘Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe’, ‘Educating Rita’, ‘Kitchen Witches’, ‘Talking Heads’, ‘Knickers! A Brief Comedy’, ‘The Woman In Black’, ‘Glorious!’, ‘The 39 Steps’, ‘Harvest’, ‘Til it Hurts’, ‘The Men Commandments’, ‘The Mysterious Mr. Love’, ‘Shirley Valentine’ ‘Stones in his Pockets’ and ‘Halfway There’. James’ television credits include ‘MissingTreasures’, ‘Top Cops’, ‘Codename Eternity’, ‘Amazon’, ‘D.C.’, ‘Twice in a Lifetime’, and ‘The Eleventh Hour’. Film credits include ‘Welcome to Mooseport’ and ‘Knockaround Guys’.
Anna Silvija-Broks
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Anna is delighted to be back at Globus theatre in the beautiful town of Bobcaygeon for another season. You will remember Anna last season in Sarah Quick's hilarious Sunshine Express and Norm Foster's delightful Lunenburg .Anna is a University of Windsor BFA graduate and also studied classical voice of the Royal Conservatory of music in Toronto. Anna has been in many productions here at the Lakeview Arts barn and her favourite's include "I Outa Be In Pictures, Looking, The Long Weekend and the premiere of Sarah Quick's Raising the Barn.
Anna sang at the Lakeview Arts Barn's "Culinary Celebration " May 2017 providing all Canadian repertoire of folk rock and pop music with two other musicians from Toronto. Anna's most recent work in Toronto was at the Tarragon theatre's Extra Space playing " Alex " in " From the Water " with Seven Siblings Theatre. Anna sings in a Toronto folk jazz rock pop band called Sideways.
All aboard! Join us on the Sunshine Express, a coach tour that sees dreams realized and lives unfurled. We'll meet a multitude of thrill-seeking snowbirds all hoping to pack up their parkas and top up their tans... come and see what's in store as they get so much more!
First Produced at Globus Theatre in Bobcaygeon in 2010.
The Cast
Sarah Quick
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Trained at the University of Wales, Sarah obtained a BA (Hons) degree in Drama along with certificates in acting from the London College of Music and The Guildhall.
In 1999 she formed Quick Change Theatre and toured throughout Canada, Ireland, England, the U.S., and Australia with her self-penned works ‘Thanks for the Mammaries’, ‘Sex and Sensibility’, ‘The Men Commandments’, ‘Do You Take This Man’ and ‘B4 & After’. ‘Do You Take This Man’ was CBC’s pick of the Edmonton Fringe and received an outstanding Drama award at the Melbourne International Fringe Fest.
Sarah has performed in over forty productions with Globus Theatre with highlights including ‘Educating Rita’, ‘The 39 Steps’, ‘The Mysterious Mr. Love’, ‘The Secret Lives of Henry & Alice’, ‘Shirley Valentine’, ‘Sexy Laundry’, ‘Real Estate’, ‘Raising the Barn’ and ‘Halfway There’.
In the Fall of 2017, Sarah appeared in the World Premiere production of Sugar Road at Theatre Orangeville where she received audience acclaim for her role as Caroline. She was most recently involved in performing her play ‘Sunshine Express’ on tour to the Village Playhouse, Bancroft and Theatre Collingwood’s Gayety Theatre.
Sarah has written over 15 plays including ‘Knickers! A Brief Comedy’, which is currently in production at Upper Canada Playhouse and her newest play, ‘#Happy’, which was commissioned by the Lighthouse Festival Theatre in Port Dover.
Mark Whelan
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Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Mark currently lives and works in Toronto.
Having previously appeared in Sunshine Express and Till it Hurts here at the LAB, and on leave from his steady job as “ the Sleeman guy” in the beer commercials, Mark is delighted to be back in Bobcaygeon with the talented folks Globus theatre. A regular performer in TV, Film and Theatre Marks recent TV and film credits include appearances in Republic of Doyle, The Listener, Being Erica, Murdoch's Mysteries, Breakout Kings, The Divide, Pompeii among many.
Other theatre..A Delicate Balance Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf (Alumnae theatre), Of Mice and Men, A Scull in Connemara, James Joyces The Dead, (Toronto Irish players)
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What was your main inspiration for writing this show?
As a newcomer to Canada, I observe different things that become fascinating topics for me when writing. Locals may not always notice the quirks around them but as an outsider I could really pick up on characteristics that make our community one of a kind. The whole phenomenon around snowbirds is so unique to Canada. This is such a crazy thing that at a certain point of year, towns lose over half of their population to people who toodle off to the south and have a mini Canada somewhere in Florida or wherever.
Denure Tours was also a large part of why I wrote this show. They have always sponsored us and supported us. I pitched the idea to them - if I wrote a play about going on a bus tour, would they be our season sponsor? They said yes, which was a turning point for Globus Theatre! Having a season sponsor on board made our programming and operations attainable and we were able to focus on growing.
After we had made this agreement, James and I went on a Denure Coach Tour ourselves! Experiencing some of the heartwarming and comedic moments of being on a bus tour with many other travellers made it clear that this play was going to write itself!
How do the set, props, and costumes bring this story to life?
Props and costumes became logistics once we formed the many characters, which were played by only four actors. We had to figure out how to put a bus on stage… you can’t put a bus on stage! We decided to just have benches because they are easy to get in and out of and then everything after that became simplified! We didn’t have any costumes so accents or physicality or energy levels of characters became the challenge in the rehearsal process. It was really the character work by the actors that brought this play to life.
Did you have any favourite moments in the play?
The first act is the bus journey down and you have all of the stops you make along the way. We have some lemon smuggling, Cracker Barrel orders and no one can remember which meal they ordered, and the stop at the Big Mall… the beginning is about establishing the characters and their quirks. These moments were like sketches and we really enjoyed that aspect of it. At the end, the characters decide to sing The Charlie Cheedle Charter Sing-A-Long Song. We are singing as different characters and some of us are not great singers… so that was a definite high point.
What made this production a Globus hit?
The story line appeals to anyone who has taken a bus tour, which is a huge part of our audience demographic. It was very local and Canadian. The audience was coming and watching their own stories or their peers reflected on stage - and not just a nod towards it, an entire story from beginning to end with characters that they knew. The production was very well done and very funny!